Review: The Crow Memento Mori #3

I“ve begun to notice a trend among new comic books stories. They are like giving a 16-year-old the keys to a sports car with a manual transmission. The first issue you walk them through all five gears and the story roars along. The second issue comes and it“s like the kid is stuck at a traffic light grinding through the gears until you are sure the transmission is ruined. The third issue is when they pop the car from a standstill right into third and are afraid to switch gears again and roar onto the highway doing 85 while asking what that burning smell is.

This latest series of The Crow Memento Mori fits that pattern to a T. The first issue roared to life with plenty of action and almost no explanation. Issue two got really bogged down with so much explaining. Now we are in the third issue and have learched back into the action so fast, I may have whiplash.

This is not to say that I“m not enjoying Roberto Recchioni“s take on The Crow concept. Recchioni (John Doe, Orphelins) has made this a much more directly religious book than O“Brien did in his revenge fantasy. But so far, my biggest problem with the book has been pacing. The story keeps jumping from 0 to 80. We could use better transitions that don’t seem to stop the progress of the book in order to fill us in on the background and then rev everything back up again.

Personally, I didn“t have an issue of how religious this issue got, but I can see how it might be an issue for someone more (or less) religious than myself. But despite the religious tones, Recchioni hasn“t forgotten that this is a revenge fantasy. David Amadio knows why he is back from the dead and is no longer wasting time. He’s doing what he needs to do. He“s after the big boss and to get to him has to take down all the flunkies in a corridor fight that would make Oldboy proud.

Werther Dell“Edera“s art is purposely tough and primitive in this book and series, but it fits. Despite seeming crude, his pencils and inks are precise giving details where they are important and leaving them out where they are superfluous. But don“t be fooled into thinking that any of this isn“t on purpose.

Dell“Edera (Brigg“s Land, House of Mystery) is deliberately picking and choosing what details to draw your eye toward. For example, none of the faces in the crowd on the bus seem detailed, but each person is distinct. It makes characters easy to follow even when details need to be left out.

Geovanna Nero“s (Star Trek: Nero, The Bounce)color choice for the book work amazingly well with the art. The cool, pastel blues and greens, make her violent reds and back stand out all the more for the deep, shocking contrast. The color work really brings out the best of Nero“s art.

Despite the twist at the end of this issue, I have a feeling that there is a bigger twist that will drop in the next one, as David has to figure out how much revenge will satisfy him. It is hard to say how much his religious beliefs are fueling his rage, But you know you aren“t in for a good day, when someone dismantles all your men while quoting from the book of Revelations.

I“m not going to go into details about the backup story, A Murder of Crows. But, Daniel de Filippis and Emanuele Ercolani do an excellent job packing too much story into the final five pages of the issue.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer: Roberto Recchioni
Artist: Werther Dell“Edera
Colorist: Geovanna Nero
Letterer: Giovanni Marinovich
Publisher: IDW Publishing

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!